Fideuá.

When the fishermen ran out of rice and used pasta instead

I don’t cook pasta for adults very often, but Fiduea is really worth doing and I should try to incorporate it into our menu more often, maybe Friday lunchtime. The fideua is what in England I think is called pasta vermicelli, and here in Spain it is prepared in a paella pan with seafood (mariscos). The story goes that the dish was invented by fishermen who found themselves out of rice one day and made the substitute, it’s faster than a paella and a very popular lunchtime dish at the coast, our family loves it.

You need a really good seafood stock and a really good ‘sofrito’ tomato base, made with onions, garlic and tomatoes. Both of these can be made in advance, or bought ready made, or get started a bit earlier and once these are done the whole dish is really only a 20 minute job.

I used squid and red pepper in mine, and a stock made from prawn left overs. Otherwise onion, garlic, some white fish, and twice as much stock to pasta.

I chop onion, garlic and fresh tomatoes to make my sofrito base, I make enough to store in a jar and use in other recipes, I probably only use two cups in this dish for a paella pan for 6. I wonder if a can of good tomatoes with extra onion and garlic would suffice, probably if the stock is good enough.

For the stock I use prawns, they will be the heads and the tails of a previous tapas evening, bundled in the freezer ready to make stock when I need it, easier and less messy than making the stock, decanting it, freezing it, defrosting it etc etc.. I use lots of bay, parsley and scraps and trimmings from the tomatoes to make my stock. I would have added celery, leeks etc if I’d had any. A potato masher is handy to make sure you have every last bit of flavour out of those prawns.

Also I fry some red peppers in advance in a normal frying pan, they can easily burn in the big paella, its just more manageable on the smaller flame in a little pan.

In the big pan I will cook any fish or prawns, cigalas, gambas rojo, a bit of monkfish, that I want in the final dish. I fry them a little first and set aside for later.

So with the tomato sauce and the stock prepared, the chopped peppers are done and a few gambas or langoustines are cooked and set aside…. then I prepare the squid, it’s easier to cut if it’s a bit frozen. That goes in the paella pan with olive oil with garlic for a few minutes, then add a couple of generous teaspoons of paprika, stir that in and then add the cooked red peppers, a bit more stirring so the paprika doesn’t scorch and then add in the tomato sauce, two or three cups.

Once the squid and sauce and bubbling away, add in the pasta using about 100 grams per person. Don’t rush to add the liquid, give it a stir and get it coated in sauce, letting the pan get back up to heat before adding the stock, twice the volume of stock to pasta. After about 10 mins check the seasoning and try to resist stirring. This would be when those prawns or chunks of fish can be popped back on top.

5 mins more and it should be cooked, slightly crispy on the top and a bit stuck in the middle and the pasta falling loose off the spoon, not sticky or starchy.

For kids tea time we tone this down a bit, to just fish tomatoes and pasta with water and a handful of peas. No need for all the flavouring and garlic, just a fishy macaroni, kind of soft and gentle and bland in a really comforting easy way, the children love it too. Actually so do the chickens.

So next season that’s on the menu for Friday lunch, leaving room for tapas for supper. Maybe we will have it on Christmas Eve when the big red prawns from Denia are a traditional delicacy.

If anyone can think further ahead than Christmas, what about holidays 2022? The calendar is open! Get in touch soon if you want 2019 prices, I’m hoping by Christmas things will be looking up and we can get back on track, and we hope to be able to raise rates a little, fingers crossed.

We look forward to welcoming you, cooking for you, and enjoying many more lazy lunches.